Welcome to my space on the
Web. I collect comics and original comic art. What
you have in front of you is almost my entire collection.
Please take a look and let me know what you think. This
page is primarily a tribute to my two hobbies although there
are a number of items for sale. For bandwidth reasons, I
have combined my price page and the art page together.

The following galleries are
now open!Please note that only the New Art and
Comicart Galleries are updated. Other
Galleries may contain old pricing or art that is no
longer available!

Comic
book
art: Original art
from the funny books. I have included comic strip art in
this category as well because a lot of well known comic book
artists worked on strips you may not be familiar with.(updated
Dec 2012)

Background:
Although
comic artist have been producing art since the birth of the
industry, it was not until recent decades that original comic
art became collectable and had any established value.
There are stories of Hal Foster Sunday pages being used as floor
mats on the print shop floors. Now that comic art has been
on the market and more widely available for the last 20 years
there has been a great deal of collecting interest and prices on
comic art have risen greatly. One of the exciting things
about this field is that it is still relatively new and the
market has not reached maturity so there are still many
excellent opportunities to find good deals on great art.
Although well deserving, comic art has not reached the stature
of illustration art from the same period. I feel it is
only a matter of time before it surpasses this. The comic
strip and comic book are among the greatest new art forms and
movements that have come out of the 20th century.

Typically an artist is given a story
and direction by the editor/writer. The penciler then sets about laying out the
pages and doing the pencil work which can vary from being
extremely detailed to fairly rough work. The art then
passes on to the inker who puts
pen, ink and brush work to the original pencils. Although
the penciler is often considered as the primary artist the role
of the inker can not be overlooked as their style may enhance or
interfere with that of the penciler. In many circumstances
there was just one artist that did both, but in the more modern
comics this is becoming much less frequent. From there the
art is transformed into the comic book. Copies known as
stats are made from the original art and shrunk in size.
If it is to be a color comic the stats are then colored by the
colorist before being sent to the printer. These other
forms and steps of the printing process are also collectible and
fit into the category of production art.
In this category are every thing from color guides and original
stats to the four color acetate overlays and printing
proofs. Production art must be separated from original art
but is still highly collectible. Over the past 40 years
the exact processes and methods have changed greatly and
computers are removing some of these steps and as such
collectible production art is becoming more rare.

How
much is comic art worth? A good but
difficult question. There are several ways to look at
this. Remember that the comic artist has been paid already
by the publisher (hopefully) for producing the art. The
images and content of that art are still the property of the
publisher but the physical art is not and that is what is being
bought and sold. No rights to publishing or using that art
comes with art, only the right to enjoy, frame and perhaps sell
that art again one day.

In pricing comic art, many factors
come into play. The stature of the artist, the age of the
piece, the characters, the story on the page and the condition
of the page. In valuing any art, you must remember that a
great deal of time, effort and skill went into producing each
page. Pages with key characters, battles, story
lines, origins and other key events command more money as do
splash pages and covers. One should also be aware
that many artists use assistants and although they are not
credited for their work, they can have a major impact on the
final artwork. For the purist who is collecting art for
the appreciation of the lines and layouts on the page, lesser
pages provide an excellent bargain and are often the best
artistically. There are several ways to approach
collecting. One can be character driven (i.e. only buying
Superman pages) and the other is art or artist driven.
Other collectors want a wide spectrum of art from a number of
artists. There are many collectors that fall into any one
category and many that fall somewhere in between. Comic
art should be looked upon as with all other art and hobby
purchases. Always buy what you like
and you will never be disappointed.
Although comic art has appreciated greatly in value, it is
better to buy with the enjoyment of the art in mind and look at
any appreciation in art as an added bonus. Buying art
strictly for investment is still a good investment but does
remove the enjoyment from the hobby.

All prices and sales are subject
to change and availability.

I base my prices on a combination
of factors including market value, replacability and how
much I like the art. The more I like the art, the
higher above market value the piece is as that is the price
I would consider selling it for.

WWW.ART4COMICS.COM

Legal:
All images and characters are copyright of the various
publishers. Images are shown for the purpose of
displaying and sales of the art. Purchase of comic
art does not entitle the buyer to any rights with respect
to publishing, owning or using the images and characters
in the art. It is the art that is your property, not
the images or characters. Comic art that is
purchased is for personal collecting or investing only
unless other arrangements are made with the artists and
copyright holders.